With the release of Nirvana's Nevermind (Geffen), Pearl Jam's Ten (Epic) and Red Hot Chili Peppers' Blood Sugar Sex Magik (Warner Bros), Alternative Rock dominated the early '90s mainstream. Touted as the voice of a generation, Kurt Cobain was the poster boy for grunge, leading the way with chart-topping, angst-filled hits. For perspective, Los Angeles was dealing with its own levels of angst and anarchy with the '92 riots which were spawned in the wake of the Rodney King beating. With the City of Angels literally on fire, President Bush had to call in the U.S. Guard for help. Compton rap group N.W.A. was ending its terror on the music industry, but not after prompting strict Parental Advisory guidelines on CD packaging for explicit content and drawing scrutiny from the FBI. With emotions on high and tension building in the streets, the stage was set and no one could have ever predicted the sonic tsunami that was about to shake up the music scene.

Taking their name from a song written by frontman Zack de la Rocha (while with his previous group Inside Out), Rage Against The Machineproduced a 12 song demo cassette. The tape was self-released and made available at shows for $5. The band's buzz quickly erupted like a molotov cocktail and with just a handful of live performances, Rage were being persued by several major record labels. Ultimately signing with Epic, the band's debut album, Rage Against The Machine,was released on November 3, 1992. On the strength of the lead single, "Killing In The Name," the album hit #1 on the Billboard Heatseekers chart and #45 on the Billboard200 chart. "Killing In The Name" received heavy radio play with just 8 lines of repeated lyrics, including the explicit, "Fuck you I won't do what you tell me" repeated 16 times. In line with the aesthetic and social message of RATM, the song alludes to the idea that police brutality is closely associated with the deep-rooted racism in the United States. It's safe to say that none of the grunge bands of the time were singing songs like this.

We’re still a few years shy of the 30-year anniversary of legendary indie label Sub Pop, which started in 1988. But why wait? We’re calling out 27 of our favorite Sub Pop albums that you can download now on Amoeba.com. Browse all of Sub Pop’s catalog that we have available here.

What do Thin Lizzy, Cream, and Nirvana all have in common? Well beside such things as the fact that they each were kick-ass rockin' bands, or that each famously lost key members: Nirvana's Kurt Cobain, Thin Lizzy's Phil Lynott, and most recently Jack Bruce of Cream - each of these three legendary groups will be celebrated via tribute bands at the talent-packed Amoebapalooza 2014 tomorrow (Sunday November 30th) at the Dragonfly on Santa Monica Blvd. in Hollywood.

At Amoebapalooza 2014 - in post Black Friday, end of Thanksgiving weekend kick back and relax mode - the Amoeba Hollywood staff will take it back to what matters most - the music - via a non-stop array of bands (14 acts on evening's schedule) kicking out the jams. The night, that begins at 8pm and only five bucks to get in, will feature both original bands and the aforementioned one-off tributes that include Bad Reputation doing their homage to Lizzy.

As a Amoebapalooza 2014 primer for these three rock tribute bands (and for the Edith Piaf tribute act on the bill) below are music videos from each of these acts. See flyer above for full list of whose on the bill that will be hosted by MC Daniel Tures with a lil help from his friends. The show starts at 8 p.m. It's $5 for admission, and the show is 21+. The Dragonfly is located at 6150 Santa Monica Boulevard in Hollywood.

Join the Amoeba Hollywood staff Nov. 30 at the Dragonfly for an amazing night of performances at Amoebapalooza 2014!

Featuring original bands, one-off tributes and more, it'll be a night to remember. Attendees will get to witness Amoebite versions of Cream, Nirvana, Edith Piaf, Thin Lizzy and MORE MUSICAL SURPRISES. Bands for the night include Bad Reputation, 3 Sparrows, Hyacinth Girl, Antoine & the Tater Tots, Abracadavr, High How Are You, La Gente Del ol, Race Card, Parents, Wa Wa, Non-Fat Grande Creams Featuring Jack Puce, Keila Cone-Uemura, The World Record and Crystal Visions. It's hosted by our intrepid MC Daniel Tures, with some help from his friends.

The show starts at 8 p.m. It's $5 for admission, and the show is 21+. The Dragonfly is located at 6150 Santa Monica Boulevard in Hollywood. Finish off your Thanksgiving weekend with us next Sunday! We hope to see you there.

Record Store Day is coming our way Saturday April 19. You can already see what we have going on at Amoeba stores here, and this is a full list of titles that will be available that day. It’s a lot to parse through, so we’ve pulled a few highlights:

A totally awesome and underrated entry to the Husker Du canon. It was their major label debut, so the band’s fifth album got some flack from longtime fans, but revisiting it, Candy Apple Grey sounds as amazing as anything else they did, with songs like the immortal “Don’t Wanna Know If You Are Lonely.” The 1986 album helped set the tone for alternative rock to follow. It’s on grey vinyl for the first time.